I'm looking for a remote shutter working with the Theta m15 (and the "S", if possible).

I first experimented with this Bluetooth remote. It connects to the smartphone as a HID (keyboard) device and simulates a "Volume down" button press when triggered. I then used Tasker and AutoInput to intercept the button press and trigger a Tasker task.

The task should then use AutoInput to click the shutter button in the THETA app. BUT it seems like the THETA app doesn't expose the shutter window to the system. AutoInput can't find any buttons to press and the author of AutoInput said it was due to missing Accessibility support in the THETA app. So I had to come up with another idea.

I think I'll try another approach. With the ESP8266 there's a small WiFi device with an integrated Arduino-compatible processor available. It should be possible to program the required PTP/IP (and later: OSC API) commands to connect to the camera and trigger the shutter. Pro: No smartphone required. / Con: No GPS data.

Are you trying to just take the picture or are you trying to control the shutter speed? You can take both pictures and video with the API and I think also the THETA S app. You can definitely use the app to take pictures. You can control the shutterSpeed and the _shutterVolume with options. I have only tested taking picture/video with the API. If you give me a bit more info on what you're trying to do, I may be able to answer your question.

With no software development, you can put the THETA S on a tripod and have it remotely take pictures by pressing a software button. With minor development, you can have an input such as a motion sensor to trigger the picture to be taken with a WiFi command.

I should clarify that I mean something not a smartphone as shutter. On my smartphone, the official app is fine. But handling the Theta camera on a monopod with one hand and the smartphone with the other one is cumbersome.

So I'm looking for a small device to trigger the shutter. Maybe even small enough to be strapped to the monopod. That's why I'm talking about a bluetooth remote or a small ESP8266 device.

mbirth wrote:But handling the Theta camera on a monopod with one hand and the smartphone with the other one is cumbersome.

I agree. I hate that soft big button. When I get my thumb ready on the button easily I mis-tap it for an undesired photo. Even worse, I have to wait for few seconds for the next picture.

Therefore I modified their sample app to use the volume buttons It's just an experimental app which has only 2 modes:Mode A: Vol Up= One ISO200 shot Vol Dn= One ISO100 shotMode B: Vol Up= One Auto, then ISO200 shots Vol Dn= One Auto, then ISO100 shotsWhy all these?I don't like Auto under low light because it usually picks a very high ISO (above 500). As an experienced point-and-shooter my hand is steady enough to use low ISO. BUT if there are moving subjects in the scene the Auto is better.The app is not in Play Store. If you're interested I can give you a link.

I just had another idea, though I've never tried it. I use this little USB device to control my Rasperberry Pi https://flirc.tv/

It gives quite a bit of control of the Raspberry Pi with a standard TV remote or any type of IR remote. You can also plug it into your laptop and have it control the laptop. The settings are stored on the FLIRC device, not the computer. So, if you configuration the device with a remote, you can move the FLIRC device to a different computer and still use the same remote keys.

The solution with the Arduino above looks cooler and considerably cheaper. The FLIRC one is more expensive, but probably easier to implement.

I may try and build this later in the month as I already have an Apple remote, a Raspberry Pi, a FLIRC, the camera, and a Python library to control the THETA functions from my computer using the same WiFi USB dongle that I got with my Raspberry Pi kit. I haven't tried it with the Raspberry Pi yet.

mbirth wrote:Does your app also works when the screen is off/phone locked?

No/not yet/I wish Just warn you beforehand. I've no ideas in App development. This is my very first app ever. I had to google each single solution for my ideas. It was created for my own need and it could fail totally on other devices and I won't have a clue why hahaha...

mbirth wrote:Can you give me a link to the apk file? I'd love to try it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3EFS_25cxffRUFGX0htWlRPZDgNot sure how up-to-date it is. Let me know whether it's the one as I describe above.

I just added capturing GPS information, apk under:https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3EFS_25cxffZEhISlRlQlY2UEkBut I haven't tested it with moving around I also make the volume to 10%. I don't need the sound because I can feel the hardware button.

I went to Costco today and purchased a monitor for my Raspberry Pi. I added an IR receiver to my Raspberry Pi and connected it to the THETA S using WiFi. Now, I can take pictures and video with an Apple remote.

Here's a closeup of the IR dongle and WiFi dongle.

I wrote a quick GUI for the Raspberry Pi tests.

Unrelated to the remote shutter, I also tested screengrabs of HD1080 video frames over USB live streaming on the Raspberry Pi using fswebcam. No delay in transfer, saves to disk.

The Raspberry Pi is pretty incredible for the cost. It took about 10 minutes to get the FLICR set up to take THETA S 360 degree pictures with the Apple Remote. It's just a test program now, but I think the community will be building lots of good stuff with the Pi after the THETA S is publicly available.

Just to be clear, the first example using the Apple Remote has the Raspberry Pi connected to the THETA S with WiFi. I'm sending the IR to the Raspberry Pi and the Pi is then sending HTTP commands to the THETA S.

In the second example with liveStreaming screen grab, the Raspberry Pi is connected to the THETA S with a USB cable and I'm using a keyboard to activate the grab (right now).

I have the code and extensive hacker documentation (unofficial) on a public GitHub repository right now. As the cameras are not out right now, I haven't post the links to this forum yet. I may be able to improve the stuff in the repository before the camera comes out.

Just wanted to let you know, that I plan to make this example available. The camera is quite cool and the new API is very easy to work with. I'm anticipating an active "maker" community around it. If I had more time, I would love to dig into more Raspberry Pi experiments.

i used a small Lipo battery and charger circuit. built the required ESP-01 circuit straight on to the 2x4 header.and stuffed inside a cheap 9v battery case(patent pending ugly hotglue birds-nest style)

but she works

thoughts. I'm using a AMS1117 3.3v LDO between the ESP and the li-po cell. not sure how wellthat will work when the voltage drops..

oh.. and get a nicer shutter button.. 20 cent one.. not quite up to par

Great work, guys. Can't believe a physical external button isn't already a part of the original package, but we're getting there.

I bought my Theta S a few months ago, and I'm using it with a Kitvision selfie stick (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkHb4DJ8l1E). It has a button which can take a photo via bluetooth on my phone, but that ofcourse won't work with the Theta. But with all this coding, soldering and other stuff I have no idea what is, could it be possible to make a mod, that maybe with a wire could connect the button on my selfie stick to the Theta S?

That would be the ultimate setup. I'm so tired of using the app, and firing the shutter with the button on the camera isn't even an option, as the photos turns out useless. Again, can't believe they didn't give it Bluetooth to work with selfie sticks.

EDIT:Also, if the above is too complicated, could it be possible to program the Theta to at least give us the opportunity to have an 8 second interval without having to connect to the app? That would be great...

Hi, could you share more details how did you set all components to work Theta with RPI?Software? OS? I'd like to try live streaming.

codetricity wrote:@bigboss97, very cool!

I did a bit of experimentation today as well.

I went to Costco today and purchased a monitor for my Raspberry Pi. I added an IR receiver to my Raspberry Pi and connected it to the THETA S using WiFi. Now, I can take pictures and video with an Apple remote.

JanuszGerszberg wrote:Hi, could you share more details how did you set all components to work Theta with RPI?Software? OS? I'd like to try live streaming.

Hi, the remote control demo and the live streaming are two different things. Both are at the "cool toy" stage. They are both to test technology, not to be used in production. Also, you don't really need a remote control now with the self-timer. If you want to play around with the API, all you need is Raspberry Pi Raspian. In addition to the Raspberry Pi board and the Raspian OS, you'll need this:

FLIRC to capture IR signals

an IR remote you have lying around your house. The TV remote will work. You can map the buttons to whatever you want

Python and Pygame ( you can install from the Raspian repository with apt)

Code to capture the IR signals that have been converted to keyboard presses

Here is some sample code for the Raspberry Pi. This is the relevant portion to capture the IR signals (that have been conveniently translated to key presses by FLIRC).

I have the Raspberry Pi working with a battery and touchscreen in a box.

If you want to stream video with 360 navigation. I suggest you try WebRTC. Here is a guide. I have not tried WebRTC 360 live streaming from the Raspberry Pi yet, but there's a possibility that it will just work.

BTW, I also have code samples of the Raspberry Pi working with the GPIO pins, this means that you can have the Raspberry Pi accept inputs like a physical button press as well as output triggers like flashing LED lights and sounding a piezo buzzer.

Here's a snippet with the idea of having a big physical light above the camera or at a physical control panel that shows what mode the camera is in, video or still image

Sorry Guys.. i did not draw a schematic when i built my remote.it was pretty basic. and i just put it together..

but here is what I believe i did from memory.

GPIO 0 goes to the button. pulled "high" to 3.3v through a 2.2Kohm resistor. button ties it to GndGPIO 2 goes to the Blue "connected" LED through a 47Kohm resistor (for my LED) to 3.3VGreen power LED is just across 3.3v and Ground through a 100Kohm resistor (for my LED)

im using an ebay usb lipo charger/manager board for the batterypower is regulated to 3.3V with an AMS1117 LDO with a 100nF Across it

So far that hacks I've seen make use of the fact that the Dash sends ARP packets to the network to identify itself. This means you will need another device that detects the Dash and then triggers the shutter on the Theta S (PC, Phone or Pi). I'd like to see it work using the Dash's WiFi module to directly connect with the Theta.